英语美文：Interview God 采访上帝

Interview God　采访上帝

◎ Jim Elwell
 

“Come in,” God said to me, “so, you would like to interview me?”

“进来吧，”上帝对我说，“那么，你想采访我？”

“If you have the time.” I said.

“是的，如果您有时间的话。”我说。

He smiled through his beard and said: “My time is called eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?”

上帝微笑了，笑容通过他的胡须绽开，他说：“我的时间叫做永恒，足够做任何事情了。你心里有什么问题想问我？”

“None that is new to you. What’s the one thing that surprises you most about mankind?”

“对您来说是没有什么新鲜的。人类唯一让您感到最惊奇的事情是什么呢？”

He answered: “That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they never had never lived...”

上帝回答道：“人类厌倦了当个孩子，盼望着长大，匆匆忙忙长大后，又向往回到童年。他们为了赚钱而失去健康，然后又浪费钱财来恢复健康。他们焦虑不安地思索着未来，却忘记了眼前的生活，所以，他们活着既不是为了现在也不是为了未来。他们活着的时候，似乎永远都不会死，他们死的时候，也好像从来没活过……”

His hands took mine and we were silent. After a long period, I said, “May I ask you another question?”

上帝握住我的手，我们一阵沉默。过了好长一段时间，我说：“我可以再问您一个问题吗？”

He replied with a smile.

上帝用微笑回答了我。

“As a Father, what would you ask your children to do for the new year?”

“作为天父，在新的一年里，您会要求您的子民做什么？”

“To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved.

“嗯，他们不能强迫别人爱他们。他们所能做的就是让自己被爱；

To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it.

“要了解，信任需要多年的努力去建立，但几秒钟就可以被摧毁；

To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives.

“要懂得，最有价值的不是他们生活中拥有的东西，而是他们拥有谁；

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. There will be others better or worse than they are.

“要明白，拿自己和别人比是不好的，总会有比上不足，比下有余；

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

“要明白，富有的人并不是拥有最多的人，而是需求最少的人；

To learn that they should control their attitudes, otherwise their attitudes will control them.

“要学会，应该控制他们的态度，否则他们的态度将控制他们；

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

“要知道，深深地伤害我们所爱的人只需要几秒钟，要愈合这个伤口却需要许多年；

To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

“要学会，通过宽恕的行为学习饶恕；

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

“要懂得，金钱买不到幸福；

To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be upset, that does not give them the right to upset those around them.

“要懂得，在某些时候他们或许有权愤怒，但愤怒本身没有给他们权力颠覆公正；

To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but a landing gear to achieve.

“要了解，伟大的梦想不需要巨大的翅膀，但要有起落架来使梦想实现；

To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has found one has found a true treasure.

“要了解，真正的朋友非常稀少，找到了的人就找到了真正的宝藏；

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.

“要明白，两个人看同一件事情会有完全不同的看法；

To learn that those who are honest with themselves without considering the consequences go far in life.

“要知道，那些能诚实地面对自己而不担心后果的人，有远大的前程可走；

To learn that even though they may think they have nothing to give, when a friend cries with them, they find the strength to appease the pain.

“要知道，尽管有时可能认为自己没什么可给予的，但是当朋友同他们一起挥泪的时候，他们能找到力量去抚平伤痛；

To learn that by trying to hold on to love ones, they very quickly push them away; and by letting go of those they love, they will be side by side forever.

“要懂得，试图紧紧抓住所爱的人，所爱的人会推开你；给所爱的人自由，他们会永远在你的左右。

To learn that even though the word “love” has many different meanings, it loses value when it is overstated.

“要知道，尽管‘爱’这个字含义很广，但滥用这个字就会使它失去价值；

To learn that they can never do something extraordinary for me to love them; I simply do.

“要明白，他们永远不能用特殊的举动使我爱他们，我爱人类不需要理由；

To learn that the shortest distance they could be from me is the ‘the distance of a prayer’.”

“要知道，他们和我最短的距离，就是‘祈祷者的距离’。”